New recruit Sean Murray could be handed an immediate debut as Colchester United bid to get back on track at Blackpool tomorrow.

U’s boss John McGreal insists that Murray “is up to speed” and ready to play, following his switch from Swindon Town on transfer deadline day on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old midfielder has already rattled up 100 league games in his short career, 75 of them in the Championship for his first club Watford.

“Sean is up to speed, he’s had a lot of game-time,” enthused McGreal.

“We have had him involved in a couple of days training as well, and he’s slotted straight in.

“So there are no qualms about Sean going straight in.

“He’s played in the Championship with Watford, and with Swindon in League One, so he’s amassed a number of games already. As well as promoting our own (young players), we want to get in players with good reputations who have done well in the past but who are now looking for a fresh challenge.

“And Sean was looking for a fresh challenge,” added McGreal.

Referring to Murray’s attributes, McGreal continued: “He’s a creative midfielder, he gets around the pitch, and likes to get on the ball.

“He’s got the element of a goal in him as well, looking at his Watford days (10 goals in the Championship).

“But he’s not the finished article, so we are hoping to improve him as well.

“Sean’s still only 23, which is a similar age to what we usually look for, and he’s played a lot of game-time at Swindon.

“I think he’s ready, which was one of the important things that we were looking for, to get a player in that midfield area who had games under his belt.

“Sean has that, and also he is a terrific footballer, so we are hoping that he will just blend straight into our midfield.

“It just gives us that extra competition, a real good battle that we do need, that we didn‘t really have against Exeter (3-0 defeat last Saturday week).

“We only had two out-and-out midfielders at Exeter, in Craig (Slater) and Tom (Lapslie), so we were short in that area. It’s a tough gig in that midfield area.”

Fellow midfielder Owen Garvan could again miss out with a knee injury.